Editing Human Germline Cells Sparks Ethics Debate
        
            By Tina Hesman Saey, 
                ScienceNews
             | 05. 06. 2015
        
            [Quotes CGS's Marcy Darnovsky]
                    
                                    
                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                            
                              
    
  
  
    
  
          
  
      
    
             
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Sci-fi novels and films like Gattaca no longer have a   monopoly on genetically engineered humans. Real research scripts about   editing the human genome are now appearing in scientific and medical   journals. But the reviews are mixed.
 
  In Gattaca, nearly   everyone was genetically altered, their DNA adjusted to prevent disease,   enhance intelligence and make them look good. Today, only people   treated with gene therapy have genetically engineered DNA. But powerful   new gene editing tools could expand the scope of DNA alteration, forever   changing humans' genetic destiny.  
 
  Not everyone thinks   scientists should wield that power. Kindling the debate is a report by   scientists from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, who have   edited a gene in fertilized human eggs, called zygotes. The team used   new gene editing technology known as the CRISPR/Cas9 system. That   technology can precisely snip out a disease-causing mutation and replace   it with healthy DNA. CRISPR/Cas9 has edited DNA in stem cells and   cancer cells in humans. Researchers have also deployed the molecules to   engineer other animals, including mice and monkeys (SN Online: 3/31/14...
 
 
  
 
    
    
  
   
                        
                                                                                
                 
                                                    
                            
                                  
    
  
  
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[OHSU News/Christine Torres Hicks]
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Induction of experimental cell division to generate cells with reduced chromosome ploidy
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